featured posts

Wisdom From The Experts Pt 4 & 5 Two Turtle and Tort experts, two related pieces of wisdom to share about turtle and tortoise anatomy! Lori Neuman-Lee, PhD (@CheloniaGirl ), prof at Utah State University, says – “I wish people knew that turtles can’t come out of their shells…because their shells are part of their...
Read more

Words of Wisdom from the Experts Pt 3- “I wish people knew how smart turtles are. They learn quickly where their food comes from; if from a human then they learn that specific person” Is what Michelle Kelly (@MichelleKellyCW), public speaker about Reptiles and amphibians, wishes more people knew about turtles and tortoises. Those of...
Read more

Words of wisdom from the experts pt 2 Check out this INCREDIBLE photo by Amanda Hipps, @biophilamanda, one of the experts who responded to our #worldturtleday question. Amanda studies the animals that live in gopher tortoise burrows. In case you didn’t know, gopher tortoise burrows are home to hundreds of other animals. Their status as endangered directly...
Read more

This year, in honor of #WorldTurtleDay, we asked herpetologists, biologists, rescues, and rehabbers, to tell us what they wish more people knew about Turtles and Tortoises. Starting today we’ll be sharing a few responses a day! Let’s learn more about the animals we love from people who have devoted their lives to protecting them. Biologist...
Read more

I recently met a woman who told me she was terrified of turtles and tortoises! I have never met anyone with that sort of fear before. Reptiles as a group? yes. Snakes? definitely. Slugs? yep… but Turtles and tortoises? nope. never.

Clearly I’m biased but you’d think, growing up in florida, I’d have encountered someone that thought they were terrifying creatures. More over, it just seemed so strange to me. They walk around (or swim around) on four legs, not all that different from a dog or cat, are perceived to be slow. Generally, the environmental psych person in me thought that would be enough to make shells pretty ok on most people’s lists.

Guess I was wrong! Well sorta. The Huffington Post’s blogger Ani Varbel shares her fear of turtles and tortoises story and proves that even those with a deep rooted fear can’t help but give in to the charms of our shell friends.